While not scary to Pooh, the bees are curiously annoying and a recurring theme throughout the stories. Shepard's cheerful drawings of simple little bumblebees simplifies the story for young readers to digest. It is hypothesized that this was Milne's way of explaining his real-life trigger of buzzing bees to his young son. 'Hunnybees' are a consistent antagonist throughout Winnie-the-Pooh. Shepard / Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Shepard, 'The Bees are Getting Suspicious' (1973), for Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), by A. The Hundred Acre Wood is based on Ashdown Forest, close to where Milne lived in East Sussex.Į. Drawing Winnipeg into the story, reincarnated as Winnie-the-Pooh, was Milne's way of placing himself next to his son, Christopher, throughout their journies in the Hundred Acre Wood, where fictional Christopher and his friends Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Rabbit and others spend their days. The bear himself was said to be very shy and solitary, similar to how Milne felt after the war. Some speculate that Milne saw himself in the bear black bears were used as a mascot by the Canadian Expeditionary Force in WWI.

Milne sits with his son, Christopher, and stuffed animal Winnie-the-Pooh, in 1926. Winnie is named after a Canadian black bear at the local zoo, Winnipeg, whom Christopher was fond of. Milne pictured with his son, Christopher Robin Milne, and his stuffed bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, in 1926,' Photograph by Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy. However, through adorable, relatable characters, Milne and Shepard's work also provides a way for children to process topics such as mental illness, fear, and hardship. This book easily fits into the category of entertaining and nuturing children's literature, as it is a collection of tales full of cheer, friendship, and love, offering a war-time repreive. Milne began his short story collection, Winnie-the-Pooh, basing the central characters on his son Christopher and his stuffed animal. Milne's stories, paired with Ernest Shepard's lovely illustrations, tell a sweet tale about a kind-hearted bear who spends his life eating 'hunny,' rescuing his friends, and cheering up grumpy Eeyore. However, still suffering from severe PTSD, he embarked on a journey firstly to offer a lighthearted distraction from such dark times and secondly to explain to his son through his writing the dificulties of war, a complex and gruesome topic. Milne was reinvigorated by the birth of his son, Christopher Robin Milne, in 1920.

While at home, he was triggered by buzzing bees, thinking they were whizzing bullets, and popping balloons, mistaking them as cannons firing. Milne was injured and returned home to his wife with severe PTSD. Milne, renowned author of Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), fought in one of the bloodiest battles of World War I: the Battle of the Somme.

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne